In cloud you gotta go deep, go big or go home

This week we wonder what’s up with Joyent and a few other privately-held cloud companies. Must they get bought or go the way of the do-do bird?

Our guest Jared Wray, formerly CTO of Tier 3, has a theory on this. As a cloud provider, he noted, you really need to find your niche and capitalize on it (as he said Virtustream or Tier 3 do) or get really, (REALLY) big via M&A. Or go away. Of course his company just got acquired by CenturyLink, so there’s that.

On the flip side, as I have to keep reminding myself, we’re still very, very early in cloud so maybe the pie really is big enough for all.

But to kick things off, Derrick Harris and I — neither particularly known for our magnanimity — give thanks for the companies and personalities that make our jobs fun.